Ice jam remover for bridges



March 13, 1951 J. MuslAl. 2,545,104

ICE JAM REMOVR FOR BRIDGES Filed Aug. 25, 1948 2 sheets-sheet 1 JohnMusial,

E. i. Egg l2/Mw ATT RNEY.

March 13, 1951 J, MuslAL 2,545,104l

ICE JAM REMOVER FOR BRIDGES Filed Aug. 25, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR;

John Musal,

ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 13, l1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ICE JAM REMOVER FORBRIDGES .lohn Musial, Detroit, Mich.

Application August 25, 1948, Serial No. 46,080

(Cl. lli-'76) 3 Claims. l

My invention pertains to a device designed to prevent ice on rivers frompiling up against the piers supporting bridges and thus to eliminate thedanger of damage to and the destruction of the respective bridges.Asj'it is well known, ice floes carried by 'the vflowing waters ofrivers will often encounter said piers, pile up against the bridgestructure and act as a barrier to the movement of other ice '-floes, andthat of the body of water itself. As,

ing-'against the bridgey structure that I have designed my device. Thedevice comprises rotary :means adapted to engage floes as they encounterthe stationary, supporting members of a bridge, "and by clawing motionof its members steers them away from the bridge structure into the openchannels of the moving water.

In; designing myY device, I have 'taken care to make it simpleinstructure, economical in operation, and yet, fully eiicient for thepurpose which it is to meet.

I shall now describe my ice-jam remover with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bridge equipped with a number of mydevices mounted thereon;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a complete unit of my device with someparts shown in section "for better illustration thereon;

Figure 3 is a sectional view of line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional View on line 4--4 of Figu're 3;

Figure 5 is a sectional view on line 5-5 of Figsimilar parts Y platesI3, and I4, which by means of bolts I5,

may be secured to the face of pier II, on the side facing the on-comingcurrent of water, indicated in Figure 1, by numeral I6.

Projecting from the lower plate I3, outwardly with respect to pier Il,is a horizontal shelf I1, including at each end a tongue shaped arm I8,

the arms diverging from each other and extending laterally bey-ond thelimits of the pier structure. A similar shelf I9, with arms 20, projectsfrom the upper mounting plate I4. The shelves I'I and I9 are spaced fromeach other and serve as means of support for vertical rotary cylinders2| and 2m. Each cylinder is provided,vat its lower end with a short axle22, held in place by means of two discs 31 and 38, transversely setwithin the cylinder adjoining its lower end. At its lower end the axlerests in a bearing block 23, afxed to the upper surface of arm I8. Atthe upper end, each cylinder has an axle 24, extending outwardlytherefrom and held within a bearing 25 in the respective arm 20. Mountedupon axle 24, in cylinder 2 I, and keyed to said axle is a large gearwheel 26. A nut 21 threaded upon said axle 24, under the hub portion ofthe wheel,`rests on roller bearings 28, and serves as a means ofadjusting the position of said wheel, vertically. Applicable from thetop over the hub of the wheel is a retaining nut 29 which may bethreaded upon the upright end of the axle 24.

Each of the cylinders carries anumber oi barsv 32 passingdiametricallythrough said cylinders disposed diametrically therein andpassing outwardly therefrom through. apertures 34, being welded inplace. The ends of the bars are hooked in opposite directions in ahorizontal plane and pointed to form claws 33 for engage-VA ment of iceiloes. Single bars are disposed at diierent levels of the cylinders andare set at angle to the bars adjoining them above or below, as the casemay be.

The gear wheel 26, is driven by a pinion 3U mounted on the shaft 39 ofthe electric motor 3I which is supportedby said pier II, above the uppersurface of said wheel. Meshed with gear wheel 2B, is a similar gearwheel `26a keyed to axle 24 in Cylinder IMa, so that the rotation ofwheel '26, will set wheel 26a spinning in opposite direction. Electriccurrent for the operation of the motor may be supplied by cables from apoint remote from the bridge and the operation of the motor may becontrolled by means of a switch located either on or outside the bridge.

To protect the gear wheels from above, I have equipped my device with aguard or cover 35 which extends over said wheels and is afxed for thatpurpose to the upper mounting plate I4.

I shall now describe' the operation of my device:

It will be assumed that my ice jam remover will be mounted upon a pierof a bridge at a 3 level to best encounter ice floes carried by wateragainst said pier. Considering the fact that a part of the bulk of afloe is submerged, the device ought to be located at a level to permitits operation both above and below the surface of water which carriesthe oes.

Driven by the motor, the large gear wheels 26 and 26a., and therespective cylinders therebelow, will rotate in opposite directions,diverging from the central portion of the face to the sides thereof, thewheel on the left as shown in Figure 2, rotating in a clock-wisedirection while the wheel 26a will rotate oppositely. Bars 32 mountedwithin the cylinders and projecting therefrom will rotate therewith,engaging by means of claws 33, ice does adjoining said cylinders andsteer them to the sides of the pier on which my device is mounted, andinto the current of the water flowing by the pier.

To meet the problem of the variable levels of the water surface underthe bridge, the rotating cylinders may be made much taller thanillustrated in the drawings and provided with-claw ending bars at spacedintervals vertically, along the whole length of said cylinders. As aresult the device will be fully emcient at all times, irrespective ofthe level of water under the bridge.

While in Figure 2, I have shown two cylinders 2l and 2id, rotating inopposite directions it will be understood that only a single cylindermay be required at the terminal discs at each end of the bridge. Such acylinder is identified in Figure l, by numeral 36, where the rotation ofthe cylinder causes the claws 33 to engage ice floes to draw them pastthe pier into the flowing water currents.

In the drawings, I have shown all the cylinders rotating in a certainfixed position with respect to the piers of bridge i2. Obviously, insome cases where it should be desirable the cylinders could be mountedon the supporting plates in such a manner that the whole device could beshifted up or down. It is .suggested that the mounting plates which areshown bolted to the pier could be mounted slidingly on vertical railsand that a wormgear could be used to raise the mechanismup or lower itdown, depending upon the level of water under the bridge.

It will be understood that some other changes may be made in theconstruction of my device without departing from the inventive principledisclosed herein. What I, therefore, Wish to claim is 'as follows:

l. An improved ice-jam remover for a pier of a bridge extending over aflowing body of water, said remover comprising a frame work mounted onthe pier and including on the side facing the oncoming water, twohorizontal shelves spaced vertically from each other and extending oneach side of the face beyond its limits, a vertical cylinder mounted forrotation on each side of the face between the extended portions of theshelves, power means to rotate the cylinders in opposite directionsdiverging from the vertically central portion of the face of the pier,and a plurality of claws on each cylinder having claws bent in thedirection of rotation of said cylinder.

2. In combination with a pillar of a bridge extending over a flowingbody of water, a frame work mounted on the pillar, two upright cylindersmounted for rotation within the framework on the side of the pillarfacing the flowing body of water, and straddling said side, power meansto rotate the cylinders in opposite directions diverging from thevertically central portion 'of the face of the column and a plurality ofbars, diametrically passing through the cylinders, the bars being spacedvertically from each other, and disposed above and below the surface ofwater, the ends of bars forming claws pointed in the direction ofrotation of the respective cylinder.

3. In combination with a pillar of a bridge extending over a flowingbody of water, a frame work mounted on the pillar, two members mountedupon the framework for rotation on vertical axles, said members beingdisposed on the sideofv the pier facing the flowing body of -waterandstraddling said pier, means to rotate the mem'-V bers in oppositedirections diverging from the JOHN MUSIAL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name 1 Date Fenley May 18, 1880 Number

